Wineepedia entry of the day - Saumur

I learned a lot writing this one up and have a new appreciation for Saumr wines.

LVMH suffers and I continue to not care

So looks like they have lost a cool billion in their wine division. Maybe I'll go get a pedicure.

As an addendum, the Decanter article went to press wrong and they did not lose a billion in their wine division. THe link goes to the correct version of the story.

The Domaine remains the same

Clever title huh? Well it was milling around in my head and with this post being about how the Baudry Domaine bottling gets no love I thought it would be mildly appropriate, even though it really has nothing to do with Zep. Now let me preface this by saying I love all the Baudry wines, but of course one must have a preference. For me that is the Grezeaux. I love all the others but if there was a gun to my head, the Grezeaux would be my choice. Others prefer the bells and whistles of the La Croix Boisee, others the pure and joyful fruitiness of the Les Granges, and others the inky, youthful Clos Guillot. No one ever talks about the Domaine. It is by far the most overlooked wine in the Baudry portfolio. It does not have the exuberant fruitiness of the Les Granges and typically needs an hour or two in the bottle to strut its stuff. The wine is 75% from gravel soils and 25% from limestone soils. Vines are on average 35 years of age.

I had the 2007 Bernard Baudry Chinon (Domaine) the other night and it was gorgeous. The nose was classic Chinon with some dark fruits and a lovely herbaceousness. There was a lovely structure with nice gritty tannins with chewy acidity which suggests this will age for up to ten years. It kept getting better as it aerated and the last sip hinted at what this wine will be down the road. This is not an obvious wine, as the Les Granges is, but takes some coaxing and contemplating, which takes some patience. It is worth it and of course, as all the Baudry wines are, it is a stupendous value.

Wineepedia entry of the day - Bourgeuil

Lovely, chewy, rustic and brilliant Bourgeuil.

Big Jaz featuring Jay-Z - The Originators

Personally, I love old Jay-Z. This is from 1989 and boy could he ryhme. He still can of course but something seems different now. Love the horn sample and the dizzying keyboard. So musical. One of my favorite tracks of all time. I have never seen the video and am thrilled it is available.

One 2008er, two 2001er's and one 2007er

Been a while since I posted on German wines so here are some recent teutonic libations.

Had a dissappointing bottle of the 2008 AJ Adam Dhroner Hofberg Kabinett . It was good but seemed a bit overripe and blowsy for me. The '07 was years ahead of this in terms of quality, precision and balance. It had tropical flavors like it came from 2006 or 2005. When the wine warmed up it completely lost focus and became kind of laughable. AJ Adam is becoming the Ponsot of Germany. When the wines are on, which they so rarely are in my experience, they can be top dawg in the Mosel but more than not they are dissappointing. I know Andreas Adam is finding his way and he can make good wine but I would like more consistency. I have another bottle and will taste it this Fall to see if lost what is either bottle shock or youthful aggressiveness.

Had a very good bottle of the 2007 Von Othegraven Kanzem Altenberg Kabinett which was steely, crisp, minerally and extremely focused wine. Had a little bit of extra intense fruit from 2007 to let you know this was an '07. My only critique was that it lost a bit on day 2 as it became slightly washed out and lost some focus, but no worries, drink it all on day 1.

Had a ridiculously great bottle of the 2001 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Pittermanchen Riesling Spatlese which soared like an eagle out of the bottle. Amazingly complex nose of caramel, butterscotch, rainer cherries, peach, chamomile and slate. Just a wow nose. The palate has that perfect 2001 harmony with nothing out of place. Silky texture that got into every nook and cranny of your mouth. The finish pumped acid, salinity and fruit for what seemed like forever. Truly an awe-inspiring finish. Just a gorgeous bottle of wine and was a steal back in 2002 for $23.99. Current vintages go for $50+. My how things have changed in German wine pricing.

In the 2001 oeuvre had a killer bottle of the 2001 Merkelbach Kinheimer Rosenberg Spatlese which was classic Merkelbach. Stunningly pure Middle Mosel fruit with lovely green apple and pear fruit with some thrust, and heft to the flavors. Merkelbach for me is a bit light in "normal" vintages but they really shine when nature works its miracles like in 2001, 2005 and 2007. Has that supernal 2001 balance and a finish that lasts forever. Sold this for $12.00 back in 2002 and current vintages go for around $20.00.

Live Blogging at 67 Wine & Spirits

So I was invited by Ben Wood, wine buyer of 67 Wine and Spirits, who invited a bunch of bloggers to blog live. So me and Zach of Farm to Table and Karen of Imbibe New York got to it. So I am blogging live right now and the premise is blind tasting. I am about as arrogant and obnoxious a blind taster as there is. I talk it out and will scream out things like "This IS Vosne-Romanee or there is NO way this is a Trentinian Teroldego, " usually without much thought.

Two reds and some whites . . .so here it goes . .

The 1st Wine is a red with a nose of sweet cherry, well-water and dustiness. I yelled out "Sangiovese!" and one person argued it was not. We'll see. The palate was sickly sweet and seemed forced. In traditional wines made from Sangiovese I get a nice earthy sweetness but in forced wines made from Sangiovese I get this sickly lactic sweetness. I got it big time on this wine with a false, creamy and over-ripe style. I would drink it if forced to as there is a trace of dusty tannins on the finish and it was not horribly made. I was wrong as it turned out when the wine was revealed. Way wrong. But that's the beauty of spoofilation it can taste like it comes from anywhere! The wine was 2007 Bodega Fournier "Centauri Red". So the modern Sangiovese I thought this wine was, turned out to be a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carignan (yes that's right) Carignan blend from Argentina. Blind tasting is humbling. I am humbled.

The 2nd Wine started out herbal and funky on the nose but soon the palate developed a sweetness that I found off putting. It got sweeter and sweeter. And oakier and oakier. This turned out to be a 2005 Domaine de Bonserine Cote-Rotie which was marked down to $19.99 from $44.99 as part of the big BNP buys Diageo dump and continuing dump of inventory. Even marked down I did not like it but can see the appeal as it is $20 Cote Rotie. Problem was wine was oaked up to much and did not smell or really taste like Cote Rotie. Next time, let's say Jane gets a bottle of real Cote Rotie (Jasmin, Jamet) after loving her case of Bonserine she better like her some gnar gnar black olive and sauvage.


The 3rd Wine is a rose that smells like ethanol and and tastes like nothing. Poof. Nothing. The palate is about innocous as one can get. The palate is inoffensive to the point where it is going out of its way to be inoffensive. Strawberry fruit that is light and elegant but also with a forced sweetness. I thought it was cheap, industrial, yeasted to death Spanish rose. How about this? It's the 2008 Domaine des Deux Ans Corbieres Rose. It blew so bad. Natural wine. Sometimes it's just a bit too natural. I'm sure if we kept opening bottles one of 'em would be good. This was like $16.99 or something


The 4th Wine had a nose that made me scream "Dagueneau!", "Cepas Velhas!", "Txakolina!" until I finally settled on Austrian Sauvignon Blanc. High toned citrus nose with some sugar snap peas and minerals. Good depth, purity and concentration and a long mineral-tinged finish. $50 makes me worry though as there is a TON of German wine I could find that is better and cheaper . . .but I can do that with almost any expensive white wine. It was revealed to be something actually pretty interesting. It was the 2005 Jutta Ambrositsch Wiener Gemischter Satz Sommeregg Reserve which is wine from the vineyards within the city limits of Vienna. On the web site of the importers Darcy and Huber its says that apparently the Wiener Gemischter Satz is the only winner of the Slow Food Ark of Taste and Presida award for authentic winemaking. It was good wine but I think $50 might be a touch steep, but is kind of an iconic wine, in that it is a reserve, and other Gemischer Satz wines on the 67 website retail for $17 and $20. So the price in context makes sense.


All in all was an interesting and fun night, met some great people, tasted some interesting wine, especially that Austrian one with the long name. Ben, thank you very much for inviting me, and it was a great time.

Fine and Rare Wine at the Airport - A new paradigm or a new scam?

They seem to think so in Dubai. Not sure if they think scam or paradigm. Time will tell. Wonder how authentic that 1961 Cheval DM is? Or that '47 Petrus? Seems fishy to me . . .seems like a perfect place to foist fake wine on people who don't know jack about wine.

A little Sunday Wineepedia action - Azay-Le-Rideau (or the geekiest producer in all of the Loire)

How about on this fine Sunday we all brush up on Azay-Le-Rideau? Thought so.

Shinn Estate Vineyards does make inexpensive wine . . .

. . .and it is pretty darn tasty. This post is a small mea culpa in regards to my last post in which I said there is no good inexpensive wine in Long Island. David Page, co owner of Shinn Estate, commented that he did indeed have some inexpensive wines and was more than happy to show them to me next time I was out there. Well I was back in town on July 4th and went back to Shinn.

The pictures are from my May visit as I did not bring my camera this time. I tried not to add repeats.

The tasting room was jam packed and Panda, the 1 year old vineyard pup, a border collie, was playing with twigs he kept bringing in from outside. All was right in the world.


As an apertif had a lovely taste of the 2006 "Ultra Brut" Sparkling Wine which I wrote about here.

The first wine was the 2008 "Coalescence" which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay and yes get ready, Merlot Blanc. The nose is mostly Sauvignon-like with fig and citrus and some mineral. The palate is vibrant and zippy with lovely minerality, purity and tangy pithy fruit. The Merlot Blanc contributes some softness to the palate as this was high in acid already and can only imagine what it would be like without the Merlot Blanc. It had an enticing bitterness already and I sure without Merlot Blanc it might be more bitter. I would like it probably, but not many others. Very geeky stuff and a steal at $14 a bottle.

Next up was the 2008 "Anomaly" which was white wine made from red grapes. A still Blanc de Noir if you will. Rainer cherries abound on the palate with a soft texture and clean flavors. Pure and clean and very well made but I'll take the Coalescence as it is zippy and more geeky and a bit more interesting. Still though was a very well made wine and a good value at $18 a bottle.

There was a lovely bottle of 2008 Rose which was right up my alley. Zippy and crisp with nice inner mouth aroma and purity. I'll take that for $15. And another.


Next was an interesting wine and lovely value too at $14 a bottle. The NV Red which is mostly from 2007 is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Effusive and friendly fruit dominates this wine. Chewy, fresh and pure all at the same time with good earthy grit. I like. Honest wine. I hope the NV (2008?) will be as good. I think I remember David posting on Facebook it might be a MV blend. If there is any 2007 left it's a steal.

An interesting wine was the 2007 Anthony Nappa "Nemesis" which is a Pinot Noir under the label of Shinn's winemaker, Anthony Napa. This was interesting. I liked it but was not wild about it. Not cloying in any way or over sweet like many from the left coast. Good vibrant red fruit flavors along with detailed berry fruit and some good acid and tannic structure. There is nice spice which turns a bit bitter on the finish. Nothing a lovely piece of salmon would not integrate well with. Good stuff and does compete with other PInot at $32 a bottle. I'd rather carry this on a list or in a retail store than some big, dumb, obvious sweet, Syrah-like Pinot from California or some anonymous introductory Pinot from Oregon.

I also tasted the Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and all were delicious but I don't have my notes for those wines handy so that will have to wait for another post but there is one wine I must mention.


At the end David poured me and my father some of the 2007 Malbec, of which only a couple barrels are made and it was by far the best LI red I have ever had. My dad too. Big, concentrated, pure, earthy, structured, expressive of place and just delicious. As David said this wine is "the Dream." It will be pricey due to rarity but blows away those expensive Wolfer cuvees. Nice stuff.

No discernible order tasting notes

Gulped down a lovely bottle of the 2007 Christian Ducroux Regnie with some simply prepared sauteed chicken the other night. The wine has a major drinkability factor with lush red fruits, high acid, a "natural" not so see through reddish-brownish color and awesome purity. Lost a little bit on day 2 but still for $14.99 very very hard to beat.

Ooohed and aahed over a great, joyous bottle of the 2007 Bernard Baudry Chinon "Les Granges." This wine gets better year in and year out with the 2007 even eclipsing the amazing 2005 in my book. Lush, red and herb-infused fruit on a platter of stones with perky acidity, ripe tannins and amazing palate presence. So pure, packed with dark reddish fruits and so pleasurable it is almost sinful this is so inexpensive.

A new wine for me was the 2005 Mas de Cynanque Sain Chinian "Plein Gres" which was a chewy, contemplative wine. Took a while to get going but there is a lovely core of dark black/bluish fruits and compelling cooling minerality and a very velvety texture due to the ripe tannins. The fruit has such a nice earthy sweetness as great St. Chinian can get. This has the capablity to develop nicely in the mid-term.

Enjoyed one of my staples for dry Riesling, the 2004 George Breuer "Terre Montosa" which offers up jarring acidity, bright (high pressure sodium bright!) yellow and stone fruits with a swimming-pool like minerality. Electric wine and with enough fruit and acid to last another ten more years.

Had a stunning bottle of the 2002 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Auslese #50 which is about as perfect as fruity Auslese can get. Darkish orange color worried me but the nose sung of botrytis, apricots, mineral water and some white peach flesh. The balance on the palate was just insane. Fruit, botrytis, minerals, acidity woven together in a perfect quilt. A masterful wine. I believe Woodland Hills has 1/2's for $22.99 or something like that.

Wineepedia entry of the day - Bonnezeaux

One of the most overlooked appellations in all of the Loire Valley.

Viscous Knebel

Had an outrageous bottle of the 2005 Knebel Winninger Bruckstuck Spatlese Feinherb Alte Reben last week. Really just an amazing wine that probably was opened 15-20 years too young. Different than the recent bottlings from the Winninger Hamm I had at Chambers Street Wines on Saturday. This was rich and expansive and almost seemed like it had gone through malo or partial malo by the rich texture. I mean this wine was majorly viscous. For a dry wine the viscosity was unreal. It kept changing in the glass every five minutes and despite the insane viscosity never became heavy. It already was showing great complexity with lovely natural yeast "funky" aromas reminiscient of corn husk, white pepper, slate and some stone fruits. Great acidity but not like '07 or from what I hear 2008. I have one more bottle I will hold for a long-ass time. Great job Gernot!

The picture is from a trip in Februray 2008 as you can see by the vines. That is my back on one of those crazy monorail things in the steep vineyards.

The German Burghound?

Jean Fisch and David Rayer have created a wonderful Burghound-like newsletter of all wines in the Mosel. Over the July 4th holiday Jean Fisch e-mailed it to me and I was very very impressed by it. It is so hard to find accurate unbiased information on the new German vintage. Rudi Wiest and Terry Thiese are importers so they have to sell wine and their reports can be entertaining and fun to read but the bottom line is they need to sell wine. Sorry guys. Then some proactive retailers who have a specialty for German wines will issue their vintage reports and again while being informative they are trying to sell wine so they cannot be looked at for good unbiased reviews. Then there is the always wonderful Claude Kolm, who I love, but does not get enough attention. His reviews are usually timely but do focus all over Germany and not just to the Mosel, which is like the Vosne-Romanee of Germany. David Schildknecht is brilliant as we all know but is not known for the timeliness of his reviews or vintage assessments, especially since he joined the Wine Advocate, which ranks German wine right up there with Loire VDSQ appellations and international varietals in Georgia. I like Bruce Sanderson of Wine Spectator but again the timeliness is an issue and the Wine Spectator does not tend to go into the depth I like.

So that leaves the wonderful Mosel Fine Wines which I cannot say enough good things about. Anybody who has followed Jean and David's postings on various wine bulletin boards over the years knows these guys mean business when it comes to German wine and Mosel wine in particular, plus they both have the advantage of living in Europe and each of them has long established relationships with the growers. The writing is clean and concise with no extra flowery prose and no hyberbole, which I do not like in critical analytical wine writing. If you hyperbolize everything ultimately everything you write becomes meaningless. Their distribution is free. Yes free. I could not believe it myself. There is no paper edition only a PDF, which is great as print journalism is on its last legs anyway.

So if you are a Mosel Wine geek/aficionado/enthusiast I cannot recomend a better publication.

A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario

The ultimate posse video. Busta Rhymes used to be thin - - - and talented. I was roaming around the Upper East Side with my Sony walkman and rocking this song over and over again. A classic and maybe the greatest hip-hop video of all time. Love the Macintosh effect.

German Wine Frenzy

Had a bit of German wine recently in the build up to my last post for 31 days.

Had a very solid bottle of the 2006 Furst Weissburgunder "pur mineral." Rich as 2006's can be but with a good weightlessness on the palate and extremely pure citrus and stone fruits. Nice acidity balances out the rich, unctous palate. Very good but not great. I think I prefer this with more cut and less richness.

Opened up a glorious bottle of the 2001 Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Spatlese. 2001 still remains my favorite vintage and I hope we will see another like it in our lifetimes. The acidity is so clingy and long with beautiful precise and focused mineral tang. Even on the little wines like this Spatlese the length is just amazing. There is filigreed citrus fruit along with beautiful elegant minerality, and a lightness and grace that is just classic Rheingau. Wonderful wine.

There was a peaking bottle of the 2004 Schonleber Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Grosses Gewachs which was beautiful. Big nose of mineral, wet earth, citrus oil and many other nuances. Truly fractal. Always changing. 2004 was such a good vintage for GG wines due to the wonderful acids and tarty mineral edge. The palate was all chiseled with fresh fruit, crisp acidity and great finesse. This wine has shed some weight and now dances all over your palate. The inner mouth aromas are profound and the sense of place, freshness and purity is unparalleled. A citrus stone fruit stains your palate on the finish and slowly dissipates. A monument for Nahe GG. I have one more bottle left which i will not touch for 3-5 more years as I know more complexity will develop.

My 31 Days Contribution - Why is There Not a Large Natural/Organic/Biodynamic Movement in Germany?

31 Days of Natural Wine Link # 1 (to front page of blog where this article rests)
31 Days of Natural Wine Link # 2 (to index of all posts so far for 31 days)

Considering that Germany gave partial birth to “green politics” and “green parties” I have always thought it strange that there is not a bigger organic movement there. The biodynamic/natural wine movement has been a tremendous boon to enhance the quality and healthfulness of wine. Unfortunately, while the creation of a strict set of dogma works wonders at the desks of wine writers, the application of these principles is not so straightforward in the real world of winemaking. This is especially true in Germany, given the severe topography of many of its vineyards and its unique winemaking style. Many of the best sites in Germany are extremely steep and are often spread out which makes them very difficult to farm. It is my opinion that organic principles need to be adapted to Germany with a bit of flexibility and a healthy dose of common sense. And while we are at it organic principles should be adapted this way in all wine-growing regions, not just Germany.

Some of the basic tenets of “natural” wine, which can be dogmatic at times, have proven to be a problem for German wine growers. It has always seemed a strange disconnect. Sure there are organic and biodynamic wineries in Germany. Some are very good (Wittman, Clemens Busch), some merely good (Bruder Dr. Becker, Gysler) and others not so good (Zwölberich, Sander). There are also a good amount of producers that fall just short of organic and/or biodynamic and that will be explored later.

One popular organic association in Germany called Bioland has 22 “fruit juice and wine producers” listed on their website. Another organization called Ecovin has a large following in the Rheinhessen with the average size of the estate being 10 ha. Wittman is also classified with Ecovin. Demeter, which is the main organization of biodynamic growers is also very big and has a small number of German estates that are certified. Plus there are also a small number of estates that adhere to these principles that do not belong to any organization.

For the bulk of my research for this piece, I used paraphrased notes from a translation of Reinhard Lowenstein’s chapter on organic/biodynamic wines from his book entitled “Terroir.”. Reinhard Lowenstein is the man behind the brilliant estate of Heymann-Lowenstein in Winningen in the Lower Mosel. Interestingly enough, the Lowenstein estate is not organic which does not stop me at all from enjoying the wines. Much of the below is taken from that book and is principally relating to the organic issue in Germany.

Since natural wine is almost non-existent in Germany as classified by its supporters there really is not much to talk about but the organic issue is more interesting and practical in regards to Germany. Part of the natural wine dogma is minimal sulfur. This is obviously only compatible with an academic at best selection of German wines. I do not even say estates, as in Germany an estate typically makes a range of wines from dry to sweet and sulfur is added to stop fermentation so the wine can correspond to the respective pradikat level. Sulfur is also used to prevent oxidation and re-fermentation in bottle, which can happen when there are higher sugar levels present. Sweetness is only a by-product of the most important thing that determines a German wine pradikat level, which is ripeness. I consider estates like AJ Adam, Schafer-Frohlich, Clemens Busch, Peter Lauer, Knebel and Stein to be natural wine estates. Clemens Busch is the only one that is classified organic. Many of my brethren I am sure do not. Some of these estates do use herbicides and fungicides when needed, even if they are ambiguous about it, as it is not worth it to lose money while preserving the moniker “organic.”

I know of people who make wine as naturally as possible with minimal sulfur intervention in Germany but as we all know a large part German wine is on the sweeter side and the only way for this to be accomplished is to add sulfur. That is how Kabinett is Kabinett and Spatlese is Spatlese etc. Kabinett and Spatlese and even Auslese can be dry but that is less common to find over in the US market. Also for the Grosses and Erstes Gewachs you need to sometimes add sulfur to stop fermentation. If you just let German wine ferment to its “end expression” you will more than not often wind up with halbtrocken and feinherb wines. Some can actually be at or below 9 grams of RS and be legally “trocken.”
There are some who claim there are no “natural” or good Mosel growers because of the sulfur issues inherent in German wine. This is rubbish. A noted Mosel grower says that it is impossible to make top-level Mosel Riesling, Alsatian Riesling and/or Wachau Riesling without sulfur. So the whole natural wine thing regarding sulfur and German wine is a bit like pissing in the wind. Most of the anti-Mosel and ant-German arguments about sulfur make people’s faces yellow. Also having no or minimal sulfur is much easier to do with red wine (Lapierre) than it is white wine (Overnoy).. The tannins in red wines from the grape skins, pips and stems help prevent the wine from oxidation so it is easier to have minimal sulfured red wines. Overnoy is an exception of someone who can make oure, crips white wines without sulfur.

The Green movement which started in the 70’sformed factions and one of these declared that mechanization in the vineyard and chemical treatments would kill the soil and leave the plants weak and extremely vulnerable to disease. To avoid this the key is to nourish the animals, soil, plants as to enable themselves to defend against disease and rot and if and if this does not work there are a number of alternative and healthy treatments against rot and other vineyard nuisances.

An interesting point in Lowenstein’s book is that as a result of the Green movement in Germany, many extremely toxic fungicides and insecticides were altered to make them much more environmentally friendly and also nitrate levels were lowered in artificial fertilizer. This is a huge step and one in the right direction but many observers continue to just say they spray and do not note the steps taken to reduce harm to the environment. Also, if organic mixtures are applied to the soil via helicopter or say tractor, dogmatists immediately declare it is raping the soil. This seems silly. How can one get a horse in the Winninger Uhlen? Have you seen how steep and terraced this vineyard is? A counterargument could be made tio work the terraces by hand.

Lowenstein also raises the point that if you try and strengthen the vines and plants against disease it is bound to fail. The vines just cannot fight the fungal diseases brought over from America. The European vines genes simply have not had enough time in their evolution to become resistant via mutation. Many organic growers have no choice but to spray special preparations against such things as downy mildew. Vermin also presents the same problem. Through much practical experience it has been shown that the vines cannot protect themselves from the various vermin and many of the so called natural products are not the best choices. But again this is a complex issue as it depends on the vermin, their natural predators and what type of synthetic or organic sprays are used and so forth.

A funny little anecdote is that in the old days, and at the beginning of the organic movement, nicotine was the accepted product to rid your vineyards of vermin. It is obviously very toxic it was ruled illegal to treat German vineyards before WW II. Another very toxic insecticide was called pyrethrum which was proven to cause nerve damage. Pyethrum can be created from either synthetic means or from blossoms. So either way this one screws you. One variation that is used is the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis whose poison kills worms and at the same time being harmless for endotherms. Another application which is considered more efficient and intelligent is something called RAK which gives off female odors that confuse the male butterflies and as a result of this odor being released into the air the male butterfly cannot find a female to mate with. This is not a great way for a male butterfly to live but so far there have been no protests from the animal rights movements. But again because of the dogma associated with “natural, organic and biodynamic wine” certain consumers out there would be appalled that a synthetic substance is used in the making of their organic German wine. Kind of funny how it works and how dogma can really bite you in your ass if you do the proper research.

Mildew is a huge issue when it comes to the battle between conventional wine growing and organic/biodynamic wine growing. The Green Party/organic wine movement of the 70’s approved the famous “Bordeaux mixture” in the 70’sbut synthetic modern compounds were not approved. The latter are extremely difficult to decompose and they are so complex that their decomposition is difficult to even describe. But the main and vital problem is that the fungi learn to become resistant and a as result the chemical industry is very pleased. Why? Because they can push through new patents and sell even more expensive sprays. Are these sprays any worse than the copper compounds used by the organic movement? And if they are deemed worse, who decides? Copper is a heavy metal that is also toxic and can accumulate in the soil. In many vineyards in Germany, as elsewhere, there are copper concentration limits that are way above the legal limit. Sometimes they are above the legal limit by a hundred fold and these sites should be declared hazardous waste zones, yet it is all certified organic. Not so black and white anymore is it?

Lowenstein says we need to look for “sensible compromises” which he even admits is extremely difficult. Many people who like and promote organic products tend to be blinded by what he calls “good person” ethics and “idea-world ideology” and have a lack of real knowledge when it comes to this regarding wine. This also affects the organic growers who have moved away from the 70’s/80’s Green Movement and they find themselves asking themselves difficult questions. Who is in need of more protection? The grower, the consumer or the earthworm? How should weeds be pulled out? By hoe, tractor, by hand? And if one attaches the proper device to the tractor to pull out the weeds what does one do then? Do you use a flammable device or chemical weed killers? Is the weed killer worse than the tractor. Many sites in Germany due to their steep slopes cannot be attended to by tractor. With the use of fossil fuels by the tractor, the transmissions of rust particles are in play now as well. The tractor also compacts the soil which can destroy animal (microbial, worms etc) life in the vineyard. What about humans after all? Should man be included in the equation? Is it ok for a man to work eight hours a day in the sweltering heat with a hoe or pulling out stakes by hand in a very stony and very steep vineyard in a bent-over position all day? How much more should the wine cost if the grower sets aside the tractor and chemical treatments. One euro, two euro, five euro, twenty euro? Lots of questions and not a lot of answers out there. Are consumers in the USA and abroad willing to pay more, for example if Clemens Busch is consequent with organic and biodynamic viticulture? Are they willing to pay more for high-quality wines? So far no as Many of Clemens Busch’s better wines are not imported to the USA because of price issues.

There are so many other issues out there to. Some of the most conscientious producers in Germany are happy using their methods but will criticize other growers who use subsidies for being organic to make lousy wines. No one wants a bad wine, organic or not. There is a grower in the Mosel, who shall remain nameless, that will use a synthetic fungicide to battle problems in the vineyard when it is warranted. His wines are fantastic and he will never be labeled organic and that is a shame as his wines are wondrous and very high quality. Growers in Germany will more often than not leave the door open to use a fungicide and herbicide if the situation warrants it. It is a shame that many miss this grower’s wines, but they are being missed, especially by those in the fundamentalist organic movement. Most of the top growers in the Mosel do not use insecticides. Vineyards are greener than ever with cover crop abounding and happy bugs, weeds and whatever else can flourish. Many producers can even make it without herbicides depending on the weeds, weather and the size of their vineyards. A large plot of say 100 hectares is impossible and way too costly to manage without herbicides. It is a wonderful sight I can attest to as vineyards do not look as dead as they used to 20 years ago. The same can be also said of Burgundy today.

I hope this helps and can somewhat explain why there is not a huge movement in Germany as there is in France and other countries. There are many practical and logical issues that come into play and just because German wine does not fit into a certain dogma espoused by some does not mean they are not conscientious growers trying to make the best wine possible.

Wineepedia entry of the day - Anjou

After a bit of a holiday break the Wineepedia is back with some Anjou action. The picture is of the lovely Margaret of Anjou.

3rd and 4th of July wines plus maybe even some from June 30th

Been slacking as usual on notes so here are some.

Had a stunning bottle of the 1991 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage "La Chapelle" which was off the wine list of a restaurant in West Hampton for $100. A steal beyond belief. Lovely nose of beef blood, autumnal aromas of dried leaves, herbs de provence, olives, dark berry fruit and shoe leather. The palata was about as velvety as you can get with melted tannins and pure blue and black berry fruit. Perky acidity made this a great match with sea bass in a heavy dark cream sauce. Finish was very long and the purity was wonderful. Much better than the bottle I had some years ago at Crush which now makes me think that was heat-damaged as it was very austere and muted with not much fruit expressiveness.

For July 4th lunch had the 2006 Hirtzberger Gruner Veltliner Federspeil Rotes Tor which may not be Hirtzberger's most glamorous bottling but it is always a favorite of mine year in and year out. In its 2006 iteration it is much richer and full-bodied than any other previous vintage due to the extreme heat. More Smaragd than Federspiel. Lovely full nose of pepper, cream and some white fruits. The palate is deep, glossy and textured with great acidity and a heavy without being heavy thing going on. Very impressive and even a bit young. My second of two bottles and wish I had more as this would be great in 5-10 years. If there ever was a vintage to cellar Feds it would be 2006.

For July 4th dinner had a great bottle of 2006 Shinn "Ultra Brut" from good 'ol Long Island. Never had this and was very impressed by it. Very dry and also in a Blanc de Blancs style. Crisp, minerally, very pure with loads of green apple and stony mineral flavors. Long finish and a very fine mousse round out the character of this impressive effort. Truly a bubbly for the mineral and rock lovers. Geeks rejoice as this might be the geekiest LI wine I have had to date. More on my visit to Shinn later this week.

Latest Garagiste article on Mystification and De-Mystification of wine

An article I wrote completely out of the box. Please read and comment whenever you can.

Wineepedia entry of the day - Sancerre

I cannot think of anything more American than Sancerre.

Wineepedia entry of the day - Chinon

Chinon . . . .Chinon . . . .Chinon . . . .thank goodness for Chinon.